Fujimoto Miki
Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴, Legal Name: Shoji Miki (庄司美貴)) was a sixth generation member of Morning Musume. She originally joined Hello! Project as a solo artist, discovered during the fourth generation auditions for Morning Musume in 2000, and debuted as a solo artist in 2002. She was later added to the group along with the new sixth generation audition winners in 2003. History 2000 Fujimoto Miki participated in the 3rd Morning Musume Auditions hoping to become a 4th generation member. Even though she didn't make it to the finals, Hello! Project offered her training lessons for a shot to debut one day. 2001 In October, during the television program Shin Bishoujo Nikki, it was announced that Fujimoto will officially debut as a soloist. 2002 Fujimoto originally started out as a solo singer in 2002 under the idol family Hello! Project, becoming the first of six members to debut under Hello! Project after losing the fourth generation auditions Morning Musume audition in 2000. In October 2002, she was placed in the one-shot unit, Gomattou with two other prominent pop soloists under Hello! Project, Goto Maki (a former Morning Musume member), and Matsuura Aya. She was also in Hello! Project Shuffle group Odoru 11. 2003 On February 5th, she released her Boogie Train ‘03. On February 26, on her 18th birthday, shortly after that single, she released her first album, MIKI1. This was the end of her solo career so far, because after a successful performance on the music program on New Year's Eve, "Kōhaku Uta Gassen", producer Tsunku added her to Morning Musume as a sixth generation member. With five solo singles, plus an album and solo concert tour, Miki was a surprise addition into Morning Musume. She sang many of the lead lines in Morning Musume songs, especially after Abe Natsumi's graduation. She and fellow Morning Musume member Konno Asami were also lent to Country Musume, a group that features "Country Girls from Hokkaidō", such as Miki and Asami (the group has been known, however, to include members not from the rural island--such as former featured singers Ishikawa Rika and Saito Miuna). In 2003, when Morning Musume was split into two groups, she was placed in Morning Musume Otome Gumi and was also placed in the shuffle group 11WATER. 2005 In April, When Yaguchi Mari abruptly resigned from the group, Fujimoto became the subleader of Morning Musume, supporting Yoshizawa Hitomi as the new leader. She also joined the shuffle unit Sexy Otonajan. 2006 On June 15, it was announced that Fujimoto and Matsuura Aya would join together in a new Hello! Project duo called GAM. Their debut single was released on September 13, and after two other singles, their debut LP was released on May 23, 2007. 2007 On May 6, after the graduation of then-leader Hitomi Yoshizawa, Fujimoto took her place as the fifth leader of Morning Musume. On June 1, Fujimoto resigned from her position in Morning Musume. She will continue with GAM and remain contracted with Hello! Project and Up-Front Agency. Profile *'Stage/Birth Name': Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴) *'Legal Name:' Shoji Miki (庄司美貴) *'Nickname': Mikitty, Mikitan, Miki-sama, Kuwagata, Miki-chan, P-chan, Tan, Fujimocchan *'Birth date': February 26, 1985 (age 28) *'Date Married:' July 3, 2009 *'Family:' Husband Shoji Tomoharu, Son Shoji Toranosuke *'Birthplace': Takikawa, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan *'Blood type': A *'Height': 156 cm *'Western Zodiac:' Pisces *'Eastern Zodiac:' Ox *'Hello! Project Status:' **October 2001: Member **2003-01-07: Morning Musume Member **2007-06-01: Left Morning Musume **2009-03-31: Graduated *'UP-FRONT PROMOTION Status:' **2001-10: Member **2007: Transfered to J.P. Room *'J.P. Room Status:' **2008: Member **2012-02-15: Maternity Leave **2013-01-13: Returned *'Years in Morning Musume:' 4 Years *'Former Morning Musume Color:' Red *'Former Otome Gumi Color:' Red *'Hobbies': Enjoying movies *'Favorite color': Black, white *'Favorite flowers': Sunflowers *'Favorite phrase': "Have fun!" *'Favorite season': Summer *'Favorite food': Yakiniku, natto, meat *'Disliked food': Scallions, cauliflower, broccoli, taro *'Favorite song': Romantic Ukare MODE Singles Participated In Morning Musume * Shabondama * Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~ * Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT * Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~ * Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari * Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago * THE Manpower!! * Osaka Koi no Uta * Iroppoi Jirettai * Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~ * SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~ * Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii jan * Aruiteru * Egao YES Nude * Kanashimi Twilight Morning Musume Otome Gumi *Ai no Sono ~Touch My Heart!~ *Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~ Country Musume * Uwaki na Honey Pie * Senpai ~LOVE AGAIN~ * Shining Itoshiki Anata Trivia *Came up with "Mikitty" as a nickname for herself prior to her debut and derives from mixing "Miki" and "Kitty" (because she is a big fan of Hello Kitty). *Close friends with Matsuura Aya and Yoshizawa Hitomi. *Her role models include Amuro Namie and Nakazawa Yuko. *Due to her "strong," brusque image, it is common among Japanese fans to call her "Miki-sama." *Coincidentally, figure skater Ando Miki also has the same nickname of "Mikitty." Fujimoto has said herself that it "felt like she had a new relative." *Is a self-confessed homebody. *She is the only Morning Musume leader not to be leader within a single. *As a child, wanted to become an enka singer due to the influence of her grandmother. *Would want to be a nursing home caretaker if she hadn't become a singer. *She commented during Ishikawa Rika's graduation on May 4th, 2005, that there was a time when she and Ishikawa did not get along very well -- to the point that it even influenced TV programs, according to a Musume DOKYU! producer. *Attended Hokkaido Akabira High School, but dropped out in April 2001 to pursue her solo career. *Originally debuted as an actress first on TV Tokyo's "Shin Bishoujo Nikki." *Around the time of her debut, photos taken with various guys at clubs surfaced via tabloids, but the scandal was rather minor and brief. *Yoshizawa Hitomi calls her "Kuwagata" (stag beetle), her only nickname not to be name-related. *She holds the title for having the shortest time as leader of Morning Musume, with her leadership lasting a mere 25 days. *She is the youngest child in her family. (Hello! Morning #318) * She originally auditioned to be in 4th generation of Morning Musume but wasn't selected into the final 10. In early 2001 though, she was contacted again and offered a chance to debut as a solo artist. * She trained a little more than a year before her first debut. * She worked as a receptionist at Up-Front Agency during her training period. *She is often called by fans as Aya Matsuura's rival, but in fact, they are the best of friends. *Fujimoto started off in 1999 when she audition at the avex dream 2000 audition but didn't pass. *At the time, she was the 3rd oldest person to join the Morning Musume, as she was nearly 18 years old, although with the addition of Chinese member, Junjun, she is now the 4th oldest. *She is one of five members to debut as a part of the Hello! Project before joining Morning Musume (the other four being Eighth Generation member Linlin, Ninth Generation member Fukumura Mizuki Tenth Generation Member Kudo Haruka, and Eleventh Generation Member Oda Sakura). *Fujimoto possesses an extensive fan base, which includes a group of people generally deemed "Mowota", an abbreviation of Morning Musume Otaku, who, while not literally worshipping her, often go to more extreme behaviors to display their affection towards Fujimoto. This group, called "Tokai Woters", generally performs a fixed choreography at concerts and on certain TV occasions. This choreography, carried to the sound of Miki's Romantic Ukare Mode, involves a series of moves accompanied by their chanting "Mikitty!" four times, which is then followed by "Miki-sama! Miki-sama, please punish me!" . It is also said that they send her a lot of mail, and Fujimoto often says she enjoys getting "Miki-sama mail". *She is the fifth former Morning Musume member to get married, the first being Ishiguro Aya, second being Ichii Sayaka, third being Iida Kaori, and fourth being Tsuji Nozomi. *She is the second former Morning Musume member to resign from the group due to scandal. The first being Yaguchi Mari. *In early June 2012, her yakiniku restaurant was involved in a food poisoning scandal. 16 high school students were poisoned, 3 of them were sent to hospital. *She mentioned on Hello! Morning that she found Natsuyaki Miyabi hard to get along with